


I Believe You

by WritersAnonymous



Series: I Believe You [1]
Category: The Underland Chronicles - Suzanne Collins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 03:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3234251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritersAnonymous/pseuds/WritersAnonymous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Larry and Angelina are worried about Gregor, but when he refuses to tell them what's wrong they decide to take matters into their own hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Believe You

When Larry saw them he thought he was going crazy. Gregor had invited him over, and Larry had jumped at the chance to spend time with his friend before he disappeared again, to listen to a song he had written for his saxophone, when it happened. Gregor's long sleeves had slipped down enough to flash a little skin and Larry's eyes glued themselves there. He blinked, and blinked again trying to dispel the image, but they remained.

Ragged scars crossed his wrists. Larry swallowed thickly as his mind furiously tried to make sense of what he was seeing, because there was no way that Gregor had...had done that to himself. Now way Larry would have let his friend fall that deep into depression. No way.

Larry would have gone on staring if the scars weren't suddenly covered again. Larry frowned in confusion, raising his eyes to meet his friends. Gregor was staring at him, his eyes narrowed. Larry cleared his throat awkwardly and tried to smile. It felt brittle on his face.

"That was amazing, dude! Really! You should play it for Angie. You know she loves to listen to you play," Larry suggested, trying to lighten the tense mood they'd settled into. Gregor continued to glare at him before he took a deep breath and smiled.

"You think? I wasn't sure if it would sound good to anyone who wasn't me." Gregor shrugged as he began to put his instrument away.

"Yeah, man. We should call her over," Larry hesitated, "She's been worried about you. We both have."

Gregor stiffened, his back to Larry as he snapped the lid of his saxophone case shut. Larry held his breathe, half expecting Gregor to shout at him, or demand that he leave.

"There isn't anything to be worried about," Gregor said dully, "I'm fine."

Larry wanted to scream. He wanted to grab Gregor and shake him. He wanted to tell Gregor that he knew the other boy was lying. Instead, Larry nodded and clapped Gregor on the shoulder.

"Well, you know how she is. The mother hen and everything." Larry waved his hand dismissively.

"Yeah." Gregor nodded and shifted so that Larry's hand slipped off his shoulder. "I'm not feeling too good now. Maybe you should go."

Larry bit his lip, unable to deny that the abrupt dismissal hurt, and eyed his friend. Gregor was pale. And his hands were shaking slightly. Larry resisted the urge to snap angrily at the obviously distraught boy and sighed.

"Sure, man. Maybe next time I'll bring Angelina? You can play the song for her," Larry suggested hopefully. Gregor didn't respond and Larry's shoulders slumped as he slowly walked out of his best friends room, closing the door quietly behind him. Larry stood in the hallway for a moment, feeling lost and confused.

He jumped and turned to stare at the closed door when he heard a broken sob coming from the other side. Larry pressed his ear against the wood, trying to hear more. He frowned as he slowly leaned back in confusion, mouthing the one word he was able to identify. Ares.

.

.

"I'm worried about Gregor," Larry announced over the phone. He'd called Angelina as soon as he’d gotten home and he'd told her about what he'd seen and what he might have heard.

"Me, too. He's been disappearing a lot and he's missed so much school," Angelina fretted.

"It's more than that, Ang. He has scars on his wrist! What if he's hurting himself? And he won't talk to us so we can't help because we don't know what's wrong!" Larry shouted.

"Don't you yell at me, Larry! I'm just as scared for him as you are! You think I haven't noticed how pale he's gotten? He's skinnier, too," Angelina pointed out.

"I know. We need to get him to talk to us, corner him or something."

"We could always sneak into his apartment while he's sleeping and sit on him until he talks," Angelina offered. Larry rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Like that's really gonna work? How would we even get in, genius?" Larry asked sarcastically.

"You still have that spare key to their door right? We'll use that. We can sneak out tonight and ride our bikes to his place. Piece of cake," Angelina said smugly.

"You're set on breaking and entering aren't you?" Larry sighed.

"It's not breaking and entering if you have a key. It's just entering. And you want to find out what happened to Gregor, right? This is the only way we came get him to talk to us. If you're too afraid I'll just do it myself," Angelina snapped.

"We'll do it together. What time did you want to go?" Larry asked, determined to see this through.

"Meet me outside his apartment at two." Angelina ordered. "And wear all black." She hung up and Larry snorted, shaking his head as he put the phone down and walked to his closet, pulling out a pair of black jeans, a black long sleeved shirt, and black shoes.

.

.

It was one in the morning and everyone was sleeping. Everyone that is, except for Larry. He was currently sneaking out of the house, holding onto his bike with one hand while he carefully, silently, closed and locked his front door. He pulled on a black skullcap and swung a leg over his bike, pushing off with his left foot. He pedaled down sidewalks, being careful when he had to cross the road, until he made it to Gregor's apartment. He looked around for Angelina, putting down his kickstand and leaning against the wall when he realized she hadn't arrived yet. He shoved his hands into his pockets in an attempt to warm them up while he thought about what he was going to say to Gregor. He was forced out of his thoughts when someone ran over his foot on a bike.

"Angie! That was my foot!" He hissed, jumping on one foot while he cradled the other in his hands.

"Sorry," she panted, not sounding very sorry at all. "You got the key, right?" Larry pulled his key ring out of his pocket and held up the key to Gregor's door.

"Are you sure about this? If this goes wrong he might never speak to us again," Larry whispered as they climbed the stairs to Gregor's floor.

"We have to try. If it was one of us he'd do the same thing," Angelina whispered forcefully. Larry nodded, because Gregor would do anything he could to help them, and pressed a finger to his lips.

"This is his door," he breathed, slowly easing the key into the lock and turning it slowly. Angelina pushed the door open, wincing when it creaked loudly. They slipped inside and quickly shut the door behind them.

Angelina took the lead, trailing her fingers along the wall as she headed to Gregor's room. She paused outside his door, her hand hesitating over the doorknob. Larry captured her free hand and squeezed gently. Angelina squeezed back before curling her fingers around the doorknob and twisting it open. They crept into Gregor's room, closing and locking the door behind them, and quietly rushed to his bed. They jumped on him, and Larry covered his mouth to muffle the shouts he was sure would come from his friend.

Gregor jerked awake and immediately began to struggle against them. Angelina straddled his legs, holding them down while Larry pinned his arms to the bed.

"It's just us, Gregor! It's Angie and Larry!" Angelina hissed. Gregor froze. A soft click sounded and a single beam of light appeared on the ceiling.

"You brought a flashlight?" Larry asked.

"You didn't?" Angelina sassed back. Gregor was looking between the two of them and a scowl was quickly taking over his features. The beam of light moved and Angelina gasped softly behind him.

"Oh my god! Gregor, who did this to you?" Angelina choked out. Larry turned his head, straining to see what Angelina was talking about. He let go of Gregor's arms so he could turn his whole body and promptly wished he hadn't.

Gregor's shirt had ridden up during his struggle and left his stomach bare. His stomach and chest were covered in scars. They crisscrossed, covering nearly every inch of his skin. Larry turned to look at Gregor in horror.

"What happened to you? Where do you disappear to that leaves you like this?" Larry demanded. Gregor shook his head and Larry growled.

"No! You're gonna answer our questions, Campbell! What the heck happened to you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Gregor croaked, lying limp underneath them, a defeated expression on his face.

"Just give us a chance, Gregor," Angelina pleaded softly. "We're your friends. We want to help you." Gregor took a shaky breathe and began talking.

He told them about faking down with Boots. He talked about giant roaches, bats, and rats. He told them about Luxa and Henry, Vikus, Solovet, and Mareth. He told them about Ares and how they'd been bonded. He talked about Twitchtip and finding the Bane, about the plague and how they'd found the cure, he told them about Hazard and little Thalia who had been too young when she'd died. He recited the prophecies and told them about how the war had ended, about how he'd lost Ares.

They sat beside him and listened, Angie clutching his hand between both of hers, and Larry with his arm curled around Gregor's shoulders. They listened as he spilled his secret and then fell silent. No one talked for a moment until Gregor sighed.

"I believe you, man," Larry said before Gregor could open his mouth. Gregor stared at him in surprise, his mouth hanging open.

"Me, too," Angelina said, leaning against Gregor.

"Wha...why? What if I'm just crazy? Why would you believe anything I said without proof?" Gregor asked, incredulously.

"Show us," Larry demanded, clapping his hands together as he hopped off the bed.

"What?" Gregor choked.

"Show us the Underland. Take us to Regalia and introduce us to your girlfriend!" Larry said excitedly.

"She isn't my girlfriend!" Gregor protested. "And why would you even want to go there? Did you hear anything I just told you? It's dangerous!"

"You also said that you were the Warrior and a Rager. If we get into any trouble you can protect us, right?" Angelina said, just as excited as Larry. She grabbed Gregor's arm and dragged him off the bed. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Now? We can't go now! It's barely four in the morning and how do you expect to get there?" Gregor asked, trying to pull his arm away from Angelina.

"Oh, right." Larry deflated slightly, a frown crossing his face. Angelina shrugged.

"So, we'll go in the morning. You go to sleep and call us when you wake up again. We’ll all meet in your laundry room and you can send a message or something saying you’re bringing some friends," Angelina ordered.

"Wait, but-"

"See you later, dude!" Larry waved at him as he unlocked Gregor's bedroom door and walked out into the hallway.

"But, I-"

"Go to sleep, Gregor. We've got a lot to do tomorrow." Angelina hugged him before hurrying out after Larry. Gregor stood there in stunned silence as his front door opened and closed.

"What just happened?" Gregor asked his empty room. Silence answered him and he sighed, climbing back into bed. Whatever happened tomorrow he wouldn’t be alone. His friends believed him and would be there for him. For the first time in a long time Gregor slept peacefully.


End file.
